After a long day at the office Saturday (yes), it was nice to be able to kick back in the evening with some smooth, light pop sounds courtesy of The Postmarks before heading home to crash hard.

The Miami outfit was in town for a show at the Amp’d Mobile Studio, a new venue/space that I’d been curious about for a while and finally had the opportunity to check out. Without getting into a marketing spiel for them, they’re a mobile phone company whose angle is to provide original music content to subscribers and to that end, they’ve set up a little studio in their office/storefront to host free shows which they record. How effective a business model it is is their concern – to me, it’s free shows in a cozy yet well-appointed room.

They do, however, need to work a bit on their publicity engine as said room was very sparsely filled when the band took the stage. Granted, The Postmarks are hardly a buzz band and it was the first gorgeous Saturday night of the year, but the meager turnout was a little disappointing. In the studio the band is centered around the trio of singer Tim Yehezkely, guitarist Christopher Moll and drummer Jonathan Wilkins but live, their number expands to include a bassist and keyboardist. As a result, the unabashedly 60’s cinematic retro chic of their self-titled debut gets a good deal louder on stage.

It’s an approach that has both its upsides and down. On the plus side, the extra bounce helps propel Yehezkely’s wispy and whispery vocals forward and makes for a more engaging and energetic experience for the audience. On the down side, they can also be overwhelming – it’s a delicate balance that could have been helped out a lot if Wilkins had opted for brushes instead of sticks. But as it was, the drums were loud and the vocals were soft and while that wasn’t ideal, The Postmarks still came across quite well. The string, brass and woodwind flourishes on the record were missed – the synths can only compensate so much – but the band successfully recreated the sunny yet forlorn vibe of their record. As a frontwoman, Yehezkely is as demure and delicate as her vocals suggest, but her wallflower charm works perfectly for this band (and I won’t lie, the gogo dress helped).

The band’s North American tour continues on through May, check them out if you get the chance. Deadjournalist talks to the band about the success of the album and taking it on the road while Stereogum asks them about their day jobs.

Photos: The Postmarks @ The Amp’d Mobile Studio – April 21, 2007
MP3: The Postmarks – “Goodbye”
Video: The Postmarks – “Goodbye” (YouTube)
MySpace: The Postmarks

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